The error was attributed to app.clj (useclj16.app), a namespace which requires useclj16.init, the namespace containing the defrecord.

No indication that this concerned a defrecord, or even what namespace contained the error, was present in the exception.

Patch: clj-1261-5.diff

Approach: Check explicitly that the fields are all symbols, for both defrecord and deftype, and throw a CompilerException with file, line, and column number if not. Example of exception after patch is applied, in the case give above:

Andy Fingerhut
added a comment - 13/Sep/13 11:48 AM Patch clj-1261-v1.txt throws an exception if any fields given to defrecord or deftype are not symbols. They are CompilerExceptions, so include an accurate file, line, and column number.

Andy Fingerhut
added a comment - 23/Nov/13 1:06 AM Patch clj-1261-2.diff is identical to clj-1261-v1.txt except that it applies cleanly to latest master. The only change was to some lines of context due to recent commits to Clojure.

I think the patch is ok but I have two suggestions in the error message - first, include the record/type ns+name (I think the classname in the patched fn is what you want). Second, I think the wording could be adjusted a bit and the parens should go away - those look like but don't actually have meaning in the original context (since you are filtering out the symbols). Maybe something like:

Alex Miller
added a comment - 18/Apr/14 1:16 PM I think the patch is ok but I have two suggestions in the error message - first, include the record/type ns+name (I think the classname in the patched fn is what you want). Second, I think the wording could be adjusted a bit and the parens should go away - those look like but don't actually have meaning in the original context (since you are filtering out the symbols). Maybe something like:
"defrecord and deftype fields must be symbols, useclj16.init.Application had: :shutdown-fn, :foo-bar"

There are other errors caught by function validate-fields that could have more details like the namespace and record/type name added to them, but I don't want to go out of scope for the ticket. I can create another patch that does that if there is interest.

Andy Fingerhut
added a comment - 30/Apr/14 9:32 AM Patch clj-1261-3.diff attempts to incorporate Alex's suggested error message changes.
There are other errors caught by function validate-fields that could have more details like the namespace and record/type name added to them, but I don't want to go out of scope for the ticket. I can create another patch that does that if there is interest.

Andy Fingerhut
added a comment - 05/May/14 2:03 PM I'd be happy to write one, if I had a "similar" one to pattern them on.
By similar, I mean: are there any existing tests that require a namespace that isn't already loaded & compiled when the tests begin running, and catch exceptions thrown during the require?

Patch clj-1261-4.diff is identical to clj-1261-3.diff except that it adds a couple of unit tests verifying that an exception of the desired type and with an appropriate message is thrown when keywords are used as defrecord or deftype fields.

Andy Fingerhut
added a comment - 10/May/14 6:43 PM Patch clj-1261-4.diff is identical to clj-1261-3.diff except that it adds a couple of unit tests verifying that an exception of the desired type and with an appropriate message is thrown when keywords are used as defrecord or deftype fields.